The subject matter disclosed herein relates to dynamic nuclear polarization systems.
Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is a technique that is used to generate an excess of a nuclear spin orientation relative to another spin orientation, which is sometimes referred to as hyperpolarization. The excess of one spin orientation over another is reflected by an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio of measurements in nuclear magnetic resonance systems such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems.
DNP often involves cooling samples to particularly low temperatures. For instance, DNP systems may include liquid cryogen (e.g., liquid helium) baths used to cool samples to very low temperatures, sometimes below four Kelvin. However, in some cases, icing within a sample path (e.g., a path within the DNP system between where a sample is first introduced to the DNP system and the liquid cryogen bath) may occur (e.g., due to a vial or syringe breaking). In some instances, ice may be removed by warming the entire DNP system, which results in system downtime and can increase operating costs.